The Importance of UX

I took a look at the recently announced Windows Mobile 7, and I'm so glad to see that Microsoft is finally taking UX seriously. They're only about 3 years and 53 days too late, but better late than never (a virtual pat on the back to whomever figures out the significance of that timespan).


What's UX?
UX stands for User eXperience. It doesn't just mean the look and feel of the application, it means everything: from the moment the user first sees the application to when the user finishes the task at hand and quits. Was it inviting? Did it perform the job quickly and cleanly? Was it clear how to navigate through the application? Were all interface elements intuitive? Most importantly, would you use the application again?


Engaging the user (i.e. having a great UX) is key to an application's success. Twitter is a perfect case in point: it has grown rapidly to be the leading micro-blogging technology out there, and it still doesn't have a well-defined business model. Have you ever wondered how Twitter makes money? They have some ideas, and as of late they may be in the early stages of finally getting some kind of cash flow, but there's still technically no revenue. Yet ironically, it employs over 100 people and is backed by investors. They focus so much on the UX that they refuse to put ads on their site. They would make a fortune, mind you, but they just don't want to ruin the UX with flashing banner ads. So how do they keep from going under? Well, millions of people find value in Twitter. That's why people are willing to use their service, that's why people are willing to work for them, and that's why people are willing to invest in them. They realize that there is some value in the application.


Some venture capital firms say that they would rather fund an application that is generating and keeping a user base without an obvious revenue model (notice: obvious revenue model, not no revenue model) than the other way around. The reason for this is pretty simple. If the application doesn't generate and keep it's users engaged, then nobody is getting any value from the application--it isn't valuable. As long as the application has value to its users, somebody will pay for it. Perhaps not the users themselves, it may be some company interested in the data that the users produce, but nevertheless, somebody will pay.


There's more to be said and plenty of examples out there, so stay tuned for more.